The 4 Biggest Gaming Announcements of CES 2013

The annual CES concluded this Friday in Las Vegas. The CES, or consumer electronics show, is where companies from around the world bring their latest tech gadgets and gizmos to show the world. Even though the CES is mainly focused on tech, there were a large amount of gaming related announcements. We created a list of 4 of the biggest gaming announcements of CES 2013.

Microsoft illumiroom

The Microsoft illumiroom is quite an intriguing idea. The concept is that it makes your room a screen. The game extends beyond the borders of your TV and continues to the walls. It’s quite an interesting idea.

It looks like it will be done by some sort of projection onto the walls. I think the effect would change depending on what kind of room you are in. This could add some interesting new concepts to video games, and sort of tries to get rid of the “fourth wall” in gaming.

Nvidia Project Shield

This is Nvidia’s entry into the gaming console world with the Project Shield. It’s basically a controller with a screen on top. The device is Android based and can play Google Play Games. But most importantly you can stream PC games from your PC to your device, as long as you have a Nvidia GTX GPU. It looks like a powerful little portable gaming device.

Sony 4K Bravia X900A

Sony is making 4K TV a reality with its launch of the new Sony 4K Bravia X900A. This takes HD to a whole new level. The only problem is that there is not a lot of 4K content available. Sony’s solution is to launch their own 4K video distribution service. This 4K viewing technology will provide you with a crisper and clearer playing experience with video games.

Xi3 Piston (or Steam Box)

The “Piston” showed off by the company Xi3, is a mini PC. It has some pretty good specs for such a small package including a 3.2 gigahertz quad-core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, and 1 TB of storage.

This has been rumored to be the Valve’s “Steam Box” because it is optimized to run the Steam platform. Valve even went to CES this year in order to meet with hardware partners. Even though it is not yet confirmed, it does look like this can be the long awaited Steam Box.

CES 2013 had a lot to show for gaming, mostly more powerful devices in smaller packages. It will be interesting to see what happens later in the year as more showcases come around and more information comes out about new video game consoles.